page_title: Servicescape
section_title: Environmental psychology
hierarchical_section_title: Servicescape / Origins, importance and influences / Environmental psychology
caption_attribution_description: English: simple environmental psychology model for planning service environments (jpg file) to replace former pdf file
context_page_description: Servicescape is a model developed by Booms and Bitner to emphasize the impact of the physical environment in which a service process takes place. The aim of the servicescapes model is to explain behavior of people within the service environment with a view to designing environments that does not accomplish organisational goals in terms of achieving desired behavioural responses. For consumers visiting a service or retail store, the service environment is the first aspect of the service that is perceived by the customer and it is at this stage that consumers are likely to form impressions of the level of service they will receive.
  Booms and Bitner defined a servicescape as "the environment in which the service is assembled and in which the seller and customer interact, combined with tangible commodities that facilitate performance or communication of the service". In other words, the servicescape refers to the non-human elements of the environment in which service encounters occur. The servicescape does not include: processes; external promotions or back-of-house, that is; spaces where customers do not normally visit.
context_section_description: Environmental psychologists investigate the impact of spatial environments on behaviour. Emotional responses to environmental stimuli fall into three dimensions; pleasure, arousal and dominance. The individual's  emotional state is thought to mediate the behavioural response, namely approach or avoidance behaviour towards the environment. Architects and designers can use insights from environmental psychology to design environments that promote desired emotional or behavioural outcomes.
  Three emotional responses are suggested in the model. These responses should be understood as a continuum, rather than a discrete emotion, and customers can be visualised as falling anywhere along the continuum as shown in the diagram.
  Pleasure–displeasure refers to the emotional state reflecting the degree to which consumers and employees are satisfied with the service experience.
  Arousal–non-arousal refers to the emotional state that reflects the degree to which consumers and employees feel excited and stimulated.
  Dominance–submissiveness refers to the emotional state that reflects the degree to which consumers and employees feel in control and able to act freely within the service environment.
  The individual's emotional response mediate the individual's behavioural response of Approach→ Avoidance. Approach refers to the act of physically moving towards something while avoidance interferes with people's ability to interact. In a service environment, approach behaviours might be characterised by a desire to explore an unfamiliar environment, remain in the service environment, interact with the environment and with other persons in the environment and a willingness to perform tasks within that environment. Avoid behaviours are characterised by a desire to leave the establishment, ignore the service environment, and feelings disappointment with the service experience. Environments in which people feel they lack control are unattractive. Customers often understand the concept of approach intuitively when they comment that a particular place "looks inviting" or "gives off good vibes". 
  The desired level of emotional arousal depends on the situation. For example, at a gym arousal might be more important than pleasure (No Pain; No gain). In a leisure setting, pleasure might be more important. If the environment pleases, then the customer will be induced to stay longer and explore all that the service has to offer. Too much arousal, however, can be counter-productive. For instance, a romantic couple might feel out of place in a busy, noisy and cluttered restaurant. Obviously, some level of arousal is necessary as a motivation to buy. The longer a customer stays in an environment, the greater the opportunities to cross-sell a range of service offerings.
  Mehrabian and Russell identified two types of environment based on the degree of information processing and stimulation:
  High load: Environments that are unfamiliar, novel, complex, unpredictable or crowded are high load. Such environments tend to make people feel alert and stimulated.
  Low load:  Environments that are familiar, simple, unsurprising and well organised are low load. Such environments tend to make people feel relaxed, calm and even sleepy.
  Activities or tasks that are low load require a more stimulating environment for optimum performance. If the task to be performed is relatively simple, routine or boring then users benefit from a slightly more stimulating environment. On the other hand, tasks that are complex or difficult may benefit from a low load environment.
caption: A simplified environmental psychology model
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